The Clown Reviews

Former vaudeville great Skelton, now a has-been alcoholic, loses job after job because of drinking and gambling but remains somewhat stable through the love of his ever-caring son, Considine. Miraculously offered his own television show, Skelton makes Considine proud by doing the first show sober and turning in a brilliant performance. Knowing that the show will again make his father a star, Considine rushes to congratulate his dad, but is horribly saddened when he learns Skelton has died moments after the show's close. Show business remake of THE CHAMP nicely displays Skelton's mastery of comedy and pathos, but cannot help but fall to the script's almost laughable melodramatics.